I remember the first time I handed a blank map of Europe to a class of high school sophomores and asked them to sketch the borders from memory. Most couldn’t place Poland relative to Germany. A few labeled France where Spain should be. One student, completely earnest, drew a single large blob and wrote “USSR???” … Read more
I still remember the first time I projected an image of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam onto my classroom screen during my second year of teaching World History. A student in the back row, the kind who had perfected the art of looking attentive while mentally checking out, suddenly leaned forward. “Wait,” he said, squinting at the nearly … Read more
I still remember the exact sound. It was a Tuesday in late October, second period, my 9th-grade world history class. We were mid-discussion about the Treaty of Versailles, and for one of those rare, precious moments, nearly every student was locked in. Hands were going up. Students were responding to each other without my prompting. … Read more
The classroom discipline plan you used five years ago probably won’t cut it today. I have worked with many K-12 teachers over the past several years, watching talented educators struggle with behavior problems that their training never prepared them for. The old model of posting classroom rules, listing consequences, and hoping that punitive measures would … Read more
School budgets are stretched thinner than most taxpayers realize. A single classroom set of calculators can wipe out an entire department’s discretionary fund for the year. A class set of novels for a literature unit often comes out of the teacher’s own paycheck. I know this because I lived it. The natural reaction is frustration, … Read more
If you have ever subbed, you know that classroom management for substitute teachers can be a struggle. I may train teachers now, but I started somewhere else. From 2005 to 2007, I was a substitute. Both kinds. First, I was the “call me in the morning if you need me” kind…rolling out of bed at … Read more
You have felt it: that specific dread when a lesson flops. Not the kind where kids just groan, but the kind where they check out completely, shuffling papers with dead eyes while you talk yourself hoarse, wondering why you spent four hours on that slideshow. I know that feeling because I lived it. It was 2007, my … Read more
Before we talk about how to use classroom management hand signals, we need to talk about why so many teachers try them and then give up within two weeks. The reason isn’t that the strategy fails. It’s that most advice you find online treats hand signals like a simple hack: pick some signs, post a poster, and boom, silence. That might … Read more
I’ve spent a lot of nights lying awake thinking about consequences, as I’m sure you have as well. Not the kind you read about in classroom management books…the tidy hierarchies that look great on a free poster but fall apart the first time a 2nd grader throws scissors or a high school student refuses to take out … Read more
We know peer pressure often carries a negative connotation in our classrooms, but can it actually be used for good? I regularly bring up the concept of positive peer pressure, and it consistently earns me a few sideways glances. “How can peer pressure be positive…and can you give examples?” they ask. As always, I’m happy … Read more
There’s a moment that happens somewhere around the sixth week of the school year. You’re not thinking about it when it occurs. It just happens. A student drops their pencil case, and without a word, three others are on the floor helping. Another child shares something personal during morning meeting, and the room sits in … Read more
(This post may contain affiliate links that won’t change your price but will share some commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read our disclosure policy for more information.) I started teaching high school history in 2007, back when smartboards were still novel, and most of us were just trying to … Read more
Most of us are trying to tackle the wrong one…and we’re starting the school year at a deficit instead of our nervous systems being back to 100%.
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